record to that. it is the weakness and i understand the strength, the political strength of not putting meat on the bones. it allows people to say the only meet you have got is tax cuts that will benefit the rich. >> both sides did not want to do too much on meat on the bone. there were afraid that things would get thrown back in their face. >> another example is aiming at your own people. going after the caricature of republicans. he is try to reinforce that. if we can, we have a clip where he talks about foreign policy. we will take five mets. >> but take a look at what he said and i want to delve into kerry as well. >> now, i will not pretend the

path i am offering is quicker easy. i never have. it did not elect you to tell you what you wanted to hear. you elected me to tell you the truth. the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. >> there was the foreign policy he was talking about. that is where he was talking about confidence and his readiness which goes back. john allen is joining us. that clip we just played. one of the designs here was to get people oriented to the fact that he was dealt a bad hand. he was authentically dealt a bad hand. what is curious is so much of the top tonight on the economic side was basically on the first seven months of the white house. very little talk about the final three years.

all lot of talk about the economic meltdown. kind of by design. >> he did everything he could in the early part of his presidency. if you take the economy as a snapshot it does not look that great. if you put it in context, it looks better. then we were in 2008. where we are now is better. >> something that over the years we have written about and have been criticized for is not having a narrative. not telling us what's and obama presidency would be like. i do not think we have any link here between the circumstances, what he has done, and what he will do. that picture is not there. >> to be fair, i feel like we got a little more from barack obama that we get from mitt romney on what the next four years will look like but i do not have a good understanding. >> i am not sure mitt romney

knows what he wants to do and if he does, i do not think he wants to say much because that is his nature. he does not want to be held with his feet to the fire. i was old disconcerted about the things that obama was promising. i did not understand how he was going to get there. 1 million manufacturing jobs. he is throwing out these things that we still have not seen any jobs and we're getting more numbers tomorrow. how is he going to do things that he is not doing for four years? where are these jobs coming from? >> it is a good point. i was thinking that when he was going through a laundry list trade will have energy expansion and manufacturing jobs, we will create $600,000 jobs in gas. 100,000 more teachers. he says i will cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years. he increased it by $5 trillion in his first four years.

the fact checkers will seize on that. this reliance on government and reliance on government programs with not a real clear portrait of how we pay for them. >> he was hinting he would do it through and the wars, that they cost so much money and that is going to put trillions of dollars back. >> that is a complete hoax. >> that is not real money even if you take all the savings you would get from appealing the bush tax cuts. $250,000. take the war savings. you still need tremendous economic growth. let's go to the clip on foreign policy and turn our attention to that. >> you do not call wershow our number one enemy. not al qaeda, rushed out. unless you are still stuck in a cold war mind warp.

he mena -- you may not be ready for diplomacy if you cannot visit the olympics without insulting our closest ally. [applause] my opponent said that it was tragic to end the war in iraq and he will not tell us how he will end the war in afghanistan. i have and i will. [cheers and applause] well my opponent was -- would spend more money on military hardware that our joint chiefs do not want, i will use the money we are no longer spending on were to pay down our debt and put more people back to work rebuilding homes and bridges and schools and runways. this calls for thousands of lives and over $1 trillion. it is time to do the nation

building right here at home. >> coming across my blackberry is a summary of some of the quotes. james carvill sang it is not one of the best speeches of the -- saying it is not one of the best speeches of the convention. let's talk about foreign policy. a lot of you have seen the john kerry speech. the really interesting brief. we heard a lot from joe biden. in personal and punchy terms and then you hear from the president. we talked about this on the program dreadnought a lot of talk about foreign policy. it is not a top priority. lest democrats see it as a strength. martypants would be sitting up here say he has the advantage with no foreign-

policy. >> out of all the lines in this speech, these are the most effective and important. he did not belabor the point on an area where he has a win in this election. he looks back at his foreign- policy and he has to look hard to find serious substantive criticism. there have not been real fast part -- for an policy stumbles. hit it hard and get out and that is a good point. >> there is no republican making a detailed case that they have a better solution, that there inikd have -- if you thn pakistan.n and does foreign-policy matter?

>> we know from day one that the obama campaign has been trying to disqualify mitt romney and we're seeing how shrewd and opportunistic this campaign was because they knew they had a good foreign-policy record. they're saying that this is a way that they can save mitt romney is just not ready. he came back again and again but you can see that he could -- put mitt romney back on his heels. and six of these lines to his face. you can imagine he is undermining their presidential ability to look presidential. >> that is a smart play. one of -- when you think about the attributes people for, they look for strafe, who was a stronger leader. we know that every day, every night that mitt romney goes home, he gets private briefings

or does his own briefings in preparation for this debate. so much of that has to be on foreign-policy. if president obama goes after mitt romney and he cannot make a logical defense of his policy or statements on russia. their romney in a difficult position. >> the one thing, decided when he was elected that he was always going to be to the right of center on foreign policy but it would never leave himself vulnerable. what is from the going to do -- romney going to do? >> this is another area where mitt romney has been called out by what is looking like perhaps a fundamental miscalculation of their campaign from day one where they found all they had to do is be not obama.

it is turning out that is not enough and foreign-policy is another area where he's being caught ill-prepared. what do you think the reception to the speech will be among democrats, particularly those democrats are running in tough races that are not certain whether or not barack obama is an asset or could hurt them, a liability in a reelection campaign? >> this was a declaration of values rather than a policy description. there's a lot less to attack. it is a declaration of values framed in the way barack obama wants to frame it. he said we will not turn medicare into vouchers. this is saying what democrats will do, what they will not do and you have a lot of room to stay away from specifics. it will be helpful to democrats. this was a speech to the convention floor and it worked in there. >> it is a speech that we have

done these things and i have done this, do not leave me now or this change will never happen. but will have to start again with a group that will take care of you. >> these other guys do not know what they're talking about. it is a dismissive back of the hand. mentioning their names only once again and again. they do not know what they're talking about. word,u used the right boar bungling. let's go to one of our reporters in the arena. tell us about the environment in there. i have a lot of tax that said there is not enough energy. was that your view or does that set the mood?

>> that is precisely the case. when john kerry was speaking, this crowd was on its feet, laughing. he said mitt romney was -- talk about being born before me. biden, too. this was nowhere near that. while they were excited to hear from the president, it was seen or felt as if this was a stump speech that the president had given time and time again. the same general arguments that were made during the course of this convention and that is why the foreign policy stuck out and got this crowd energized. this is the newest part of this speech and the most biting part of his speech. people were on their feet and

cheering but it was not the same. >> thank you very much. forward.st this thing in all likelihood, both campaigns, there will be very little bump for the candidates. it is clear what their strategy is. for republicans is one-size- fits-all. it at the same message in every state. the economy bad, obama bad, but romney. -- both romney. sometimes there was a lot about abortion, about of a bailout, sometimes a lot about immigration. military, heavy on the theme tonight. that is what you can expect from barack obama for a final 10

weeks to have a surgical view of this election. they need to go out and pick five or six demographics in 10 states and in specific companies, maximize turnout and their superior ground organization will offset any efficiency. it will be a fascinating race. a fascinating end. we will end with the same way we ended the republican convention. with highlights and best moments in charlotte. >> thank you very much. i am honored to accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> this is not my speech. can we pull up my speech, please? the american dream is not a sprint or even a marathon.

but the relay. our families do not always cross the finish line of in one generation but each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. my grandmother never owned a house. she cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own but she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college and my mother fought hard for civil rights so instead of a mop, i could hold this microphone. >> barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all those years ago. yes. he is the same man who started his career by turning down high- paying jobs and working and struggling in neighborhoods where steel plants have shut down and fighting to build those communities and get people back to work. success is not about how much money you make, it is about the

difference you make in people's lives. [applause] >> one congressman -- when congressman ryan attacked president obama's savings -- medicare savings by calling it the biggest, oldest power play, i did not know whether to laugh or cry. because that $760 billion is exactly to the dollar the same amount of medicare savings that he has in his own budget. it takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you do. >> i witnessed him some of it.

he has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart, and the spine of steel. and because of all the actions he took, because of the calls he made, because of the determination of american workers at the unparalleled bravery of our special forces, we can now probably say we have heard me say the last six months. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. [cheers and applause] america, i never said the journey would be easy and will not promise that now. yes, our path is harder but it leads to a better place. our road is longer, but we travel it together. we do not turn back. we leave no one behind. we hold each other up.

we learn from our mistakes. when we keep our eyes fixed on the distant horizon. we are truly blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth. thank you, god bless you. >> back to our coverage. as we've talked to both conventions, democrats feel much better by what they did with their convention. republicans think -- this is too close to call. thank you. >> good night. >> at the website, it can watch video from the democratic and

republican convention and find out what viewers are sing about the presidential race on social media sites. here are a few of the videos created by convention goers. >> my name as jeanette, i support barack obama. >> it is important for the american people. >> we are in a critical juncture. if we do not allow this man, we will not recognize america when this is done. vote obama. >> this has been very powerful. >> i am a delegate from charles county, maryland.

i enjoyed every minute of it, the speeches and i am looking forward to obama's speech this evening. >> conspicuously lacking in this convention is talk about the internment and how important that is to many americans. let's talk about it. >> during the republican and democratic conventions, we're asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this documentary.nt cam what is the most issue we should consider in 2013? there is $50,000 in total price is available. it is open to students grades 6 through 12. for complete rules and details, go online. >> at the end of that democratic

national convention, president obama gave his presidential nomination expected speech -- acceptance speech. he promised our problems could be solved if he is given a second term. president -- vice-president joe biden spoke for about 40 minutes.

>> hello, my fellow democrats. [cheers and applause] and my favorite democrat, jilly, we are so incredibly proud of you. we admire the way when every single solitary young person and they are not all young, walk into your classroom, you not only teach them, you give them confidence. you give me confidence. and the passion she brings to try to ease the burden on the families of our warriors. they know you understand them and that makes a gigantic difference. and folks, i tell you what.

it was worth the trip to hear my wife say what i have never heard her say before. she has always loved me. if that is the case, why in the heck did it take five times of asking you and that is true. five times. i do not know what i would have done had do on the fifth time said know. i love you. your the love of my life and the -- you are the love of my life love.e life o fmf myu we have three incredible kids. i want to thank you for putting my name in nomination to be vice-president of the united states. i accept.

i accept. with great honor and pleasure, i accept. thank you. thank you, my fellow democrats. i say to my fellow americans, my fellow americans, four years ago, a battered nation turned away from the failed policies of the past and turned into a leader who they knew would lift our nation out of the crisis. a journey we have not finished yet. we know we still have more to do. but today, i say to my fellow citizens in the face of the deepest economic crisis in our lifetime, this generation of americans has proven itself as worthy as any generation before us. [applause]

we present that same breath and determination. that same courage that has always defined what it means to be an american, has always defined all of you. together, we are on a mission to move this nation forward. from doubt and downturn to thomas and prosperity. a mission i guarantee you will complete. a mission we will complete. folks, but tonight, what i really want to do is tell you about my friend barack obama. no one could tell it as well or as eloquently as michele. as you did a monday night.

but i know him. tuesday obvious, i know him from a different perspective. i want to show you the character of leader that had what it cut when the american people who literally still had on the brink of a new depression. a leader that had what it takes to lead us over the next four years to a future as great as our people. i want to take you inside the white house to see the president as i see him every day. because i don't see him in sound bites. i walk 30 paces down the hall into the oval office and i see him and watch him in action. four years ago, the middle class was already losing ground. and then, the bottom fell out.

the financial crisis hit like a sledgehammer. all the people i grew up with. you remember the headlines. you saw some of them in the previews. highest job losses in 60 years. the economy on the brink. markets, it worldwide. from the very moment president obama sat behind the desk, resolute in the oval office, he knew he had not only to restore the confidence of a nation, but he had to restore the confidence of the whole world. and he also knew, he also knew that one false move could bring a run on the banks or credit collapse.

it would put another several million people out of work. the world needed a strong president with a steady hand, with the judgment and vision to see us through. day after day, night after night, i sat beside him as he made one gutsy decision after the other. to stop the slide and reverse. i watched him stand up to intense pressure and stared down have enormous challenges. the consequences of which were awesome. but most of all, i got to see firsthand what drove this man. his profound concern for the average american. he knew that no matter how tough

this decision, and he knew that families all over america sitting at their kitchen tables were literally making decisions for their family that were equally as consequential. we have been through a lot together these four years. and we learned about one another. a lot about one another. one of the things i learned is the enormity of his heart and i think he learned about me, the death of my loyalty to him. >> another thing that has bound us together these past four years. we had a pretty good idea what all those families, all you

americans in trouble were going through. in part because our own families had gone through similar struggles. barack as a young man had to sit at the end of his mother's hospital bed and fight with her insurance company at the same time she was fighting for her life. when i was in third grade i remember my dad coming up the stairs, sitting at the end of my bed and saying joey, i'm going to have to leave for a while and go down to wilmington, delaware with uncle frank and little while i will send for you and mom and jimmy and val and everything's going to be fine. for the rest of our lives, my

sister and brother, my dad never failed to remind us that a job is about a lot more than a pay check. it's about your dignity. it's about respect. it's about your place in the community. it's about being able to look your child in the eye and say, honey, it's going to be ok, and mean it and know it's true! [cheers and applause] >> barack and i were growing up, there was an implicit understanding in america that if you took responsibility, you'd get a fair shot at a better life and the values, the values behind that bargain were the values that shaped both of us. and many, many of you.

and today, those same values are barack's guiding star. folks, i have watched him. he has never wavered. he always steps up and he is asking in every one of those critical meetings, how is this going to affect the average american, how is this going to affect people's lives. that's what's inside this man. that's what makes him tick. [cheers and applause] >> that's who he is. >> and folks, because of the decisions he has made and the incredible strength of the american people, america has turned the corner. the worst job loss since the

great depression. we have since created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months. look, folks -- [cheers and applause] >> president obama and governor romney, they're both -- they're both loving husbands and both devoted fathers. but let's be straight. they bring a vastly different vision and a vastly different value set to the job. and tonight, tonight although you have heard people talk about it, i want to talk about two things from a slightly different perspective, from my perspective. i would like to focus on two crises and show you the character of the leadership that each man will bring to this job, because as i said, i have had a ringside seat. the first of these, a lot's been

talked about and god love jennifer granholm. wasn't she great? wasn't she great? i love jennifer. the first story i want to talk to you about is the rescue of the automobile industry. and let me tell you from this man's ringside seat and how barack obama saved more than a million american jobs. in the first days that we took office, general motors and chrysler were literally on the verge of liquidation. if the president didn't act, if he didn't act immediately, there wouldn't be any industry left to save. so we sat hour after hour in the oval office -- michelle remembers and what she must have

thought after he came back upstairs. we sat hours after hours listening to senators, congressmen. advisers, they said, well we shouldn't step up. the risks were too high. the outcome was too uncertain. and the president, he patiently sat there and he listened, but he didn't see it the way they did. he understood something they didn't get and one of the reasons i love him, he understood this just wasn't about cars but about the people who built and made those cars and about the america those people built. in those meetings -- [cheers and applause] >> in those meetings, in those meetings, off ebb enthought about my dad.

my dad was an automobile man. not on the factory floor, not along the supply chain, but one of those guys selling american cars to american people. i thought about what this crisis would have meant for the mechanics and secretaries whom my dad managed for 35 years. i know for certain, i know for certain, my dad, were he here today, he would be fighting like heck for the president because the president fought to save the jobs of those people my dad cared so much about. [applause] >> my dad would vr respected barack obama had he been around for having had the guts to stand up for the automobile industry when so many others just were prepared to walk away.

you know, when i look back -- [applause] >> when i look back now on the president's decision, i think of another son of another automobile man, mitt romney. no. no. mitt romney grew up in zroit. my dad managed. his dad ran an entire automobile company, american motors. yes, what i don't understand, in spite of that he was willing to let detroit go you bankrupt. i don't think he's a bad guy. i don't think he is a bad guy. i'm sure he grew up loving cars as much as i did. what i don't understand and i don't think he understood, i don't think he understood that saving the automobile worker, saving the industry, what it meant to all of america, not

just auto workers. i think he saw it the bain way. i mean it sincerely. i think he saw it in terms of balance sheets and writeoffs. the bain way may bring your firm the highest profits, but it's not the way to lead our country from the highest office. [cheers and applause] >> when things hung in the balance, when things hung in the balance, literally when things hung in the balance, the president understood this was a lot more than the automobile industry. this was about restoring america's pride. he understood. he understood in his gut what it would mean to leave a million people without hope or work if

he didn't act. and he also knew -- he also knew, he understood the message it would have sent around the world if the united states gave up on an industry that helped put america on the map in the first place. [cheers and applause] >> conviction, resolve, barack obama! that's what saved the automobile industry. [cheers and applause] >> conviction, resolve, barack obama! [cheers and applause] >> look, you heard my friend john kerry. this president, this president has shown the same resolve, the same steady hand in his role as commander in chief. look, which brings me to the

next illustration i want to tell you about, the next crisis he had to face. in 2008, 2008, before he was president, barack obama made a promise to the american people. he said, if i -- if we have bin laden in our sights, we will, we will take him out. he went on to say, he went on to say, that has to be our biggest national security priority. look, barack understood that the search for bin laden was a lot more than taking the monster off the battlefield. it was more than that. it was about righting an unspeakable wrong and it was about healing an unbearable

wound, a nearly unbearable wound in america's heart. and he also knew, he also knew the message we had to send around the world. if you attack innocent americans, we will follow you to the end of the earth. [cheers and applause] >> look. [chanting u.s.a.] >> most of all, president obama had an unyielding faith in the capacity and the capability of our special forces. literally, the finest warriors in the history of the world. the finest warriors in the

history of the world. so we sat originally, only five of us, sat in the situation room began in the fall of the year before. we listened, we talked, we heard . and he listened to the risks and reservations about the raid. he asked again the tough questions. he listened to the doubts that were expressed. but when the admiral looked him in the eye and said, sir, we can get this job done, i sat next to him and looked at your husband, and i knew at that moment he had made his decision. and his response was decisive. he said it, do it. and justice was done!

[cheers and applause] >> folks -- [chanting u.s.a.] >> governor romney didn't see things that way. when he was asked about bin laden in 2007, here's what he said. he said it's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions and dollars just to catch one person. >> oh! >> he was wrong. he was wrong. because if you understood that america's heart had to be healed, you would have done exactly what the president had done and you would have moved heaven and earth to hunt him down and to bring him to justice.

look, four years ago -- four years ago, four years ago, my mom was still with us, sitting up in the stadium in denver. [cheers and applause] >> i quoted her, one of her favorite expressions, she used to say to all her children, she'd say joey, bravery resides in every heart and the time will come when it must be summoned. ladies and gentlemen, i'm here to tell you what i think you already know, but i watch it up close. bravery resides in the heart of barack obama and time and time again, i witnessed him summon it. this man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart and a spine of steel. [cheers and applause]

>> and because, because of all the actions he took, because of the calls he made, because of the determination of american workers and the unparalleled bravery of our special forces, we can now proudly say what you have heard me say the last six months, only is dead and general -- osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. [cheers and applause] >> one man. >> folks, we know, we have more work to do and not a day has gone by in the last four years when i hadn't been grateful as an american that barack obama is our president because he always has the courage to make the tough decisions.

[cheers and applause] >> speaking of tough decisions, speaking of tough calls, last week, we heard that republican convention -- we heard our opponents and heard them pledge that they, too, have the courage to make the tough calls. that's what they said. [laughter] >> but, folks, in case you didn't notice and i say to my fellow americans, in case you didn't notice, they didn't have the courage to tell you what calls they made. never made mention of that. mrs. robinson, you watched from home i guess from the white house. you heard them talk so much about how they cared so much about medicare.

[laughter] >> how much they wanted to preserve it. that's what they told you. let's look at what they didn't tell you. what they didn't tell you is that the plan they have already put down on paper would immediately cut benefits for more than 30 million seniors already on medicare. what they didn't tell you, what they didn't tell you is that the plan they are proposing would cause medicare to go bankrupt by 2016 and what they really didn't tell you is, they -- if you want to know -- if you want to know -- they're not for preserving medicare at all. they're for a new plan. it's called voucher care. >> look, folks, that's not courage, that's not even truthful. that's not even truthful. in tampa, they talked with great

urgency about the nation's debt and the need to act, act now, but not once, not one single time did they tell you that they rejected every plan put forward by us, by the bipartisan simpson-bowles commission they referenced or by other respected group to reduce the national debt. they were not for any of them. why? because they are not prepared to do anything about the debt if it contained even one dollar -- not exaggerating, even one dollar or one cent in taxes for millionaires. folks, that's not courage and that's not fair. [applause] >> look, look, this can be reduced to a single notion.

the two men seeking to lead this nation over the next four years have fundamentally different visions and completely different value set. governor romney believes in a global economy and doesn't matter where american companies invest or create jobs. as a matter of fact, in his budget proposal, in his tax proposal, he calls for a new tax. it's called a territorial tax, which the experts have looked at and they acknowledge, it will create 800,000 new jobs, all of them overseas. all of them. what i found fascinating, the most fascinating thing i heard, romney said as president he would take a jobs tour. with his experience with outsourcing, it will have to be

a foreign trip. it will. [cheers and applause] >> president obama knows that creating jobs in america, keeping jobs in america, bringing jobs back to america is what the president's job is all about. that's what presidents do or at least supposed to do. folks, governor romney believes it is ok to raise taxes on the middle class by $2,000 to pay for a tax cut for the very wealthy. president obama knows that there is nothing decent or fair about asking people with more to do less and with less to do more. governor romney believes, he believes kids, kids like our dreamers, those immigrant children, those immigrant children that were brought to america's shores through no fault of their own, he thinks there is a drag on the american

economy. president obama believes that even though those kids didn't choose to come here, they have chosen to do right by america and it's time for america to do right by them. [cheers and applause] >> governor romney looked at the notion of equal pay in terms of a company's bottom line. president obama, he knows that making sure our daughters get the same pay for the same jobs as our son is every father's bottom line. [cheers and applause] >> i kind of expected all that from him, but one thing truly perplexed me at the convention, the thing that perplexed me most

is this idea they kept talking about is the culture of dependency. they seem to think you create a culture of dependency when you provide a bright young qualified kid from a working class family a loan to get to college or job training program for a job who lost his job because it was out sourced. folks, folks, that's not how america has ever looked at it. what he doesn't understand is all these men and women are looking for is a chance to acquire the skills to be able to provide for their families so they can hold their heads high and lead independent lives with dignity. that's all they're looking for. [cheers and applause] >> and it amazes me that they don't understand that. you know, i told you the outset,

the choice is stark, two different versions, two different value sets. but at its core, the difference is reduced to a fundamental difference. you see, you, we, most americans, have incredible faith in the did he sensey and hard work of the american people and we know what has made this country. it's the american people. as i mentioned at the outset, four years ago, we were hit ha. you saw, you saw your retirement accounts drained and the equity in your homes vanished, jobs lost. what have you done? you didn't lose faith. you fought back, you got up. the american people. you are the reason why we are still better positioned than any country in the world to lead the

21st century and you deserve a president who will never quit on you. [cheers and applause] >> folks. there's one more thing. one more thing. our republican opponents are just dead wrong about. america is not in decline. america is not in decline. i've got news for governor romney and congressman ryan, gentlemen, never ever -- it never makes sense, it's never been a good bet to bet against the american people. never! [cheers and applause] >> my fellow americans, america is coming back. and we're not going back.

and we have no intention of downsizing the american drive. [cheers and applause] >> never. never a good bet. ladies and gentlemen, in a moment we are going to hear from a man whose whole life is a testament to the power of that dream and whose presidency is the best hope to secure that dream for our children. for you see, you see, we see a future. we really honest to god do. we see a future where everyone, rich and poor, does their part and has a part. a future where we depend more on clean energy from home and less

on oil from abroad, a future where we're number one in the world again in college graduations, a future where we promote the private sector and not the privileged sector. [cheers and applause] >> and a future where women once again control their own choices, their destiny and their own health-care! [cheers and applause] >> and ladies and gentlemen, barack and i see a future, it's in our d.n.a. where no one is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance. [cheers and applause] >> folks, we see a future where

america leads not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example, where we bring our troops home from afghanistan, just as we proudly did from iraq. [cheers and applause] >> a future, a future where we fulfill the only truly sacred obligation we have a nation, the only truly sacred obligation is to prepare those we send to war and care for them when they come home from war. [applause] >> and tonight, tonight, i want to acknowledge -- i want to acknowledge, as we should every night, incredible debt we owe to

the families of those 6,473 fallen angels. those 49,746 wounded, thousandses critically, thousands who will need our help for the rest of their lives. folks, we never -- we must never ever forget their sacrifice and always keep them in our care and in our prayers. my fellow americans, we now -- and we now find ourselves at the hinge of history and the direction we turn is literally in your hands. it has been a truly great honor

to serve you and to serve with barack, who has always stood up for you the past four years. i have seen him tested. i know his strength, his command, his faith. and i also know the incredible confidence he has in all of you. i know this man. yes, we're on our way. the journey of hope is not yet finished, but we are on our way and the cause of change is not fully accomplished, but we are on our way. so i say to you tonight, with absolute confidence, america's best day is ahead.

the values that define us for the ideals that inspire us, there is only one choice. that choice is to move forward and finish the job and re-elect president obama. [cheers and applause] god bless you all and may god protect our troops. god bless you. thank you.

>> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you. years!"] thank you. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. michelle, i love you so much. a few nights ago, everybody was reminded of just what a lucky man i am. melia and sasha, we are so proud of the. yes, you do have to go to school in the morning. joe biden, thank you for being the very best vice-president i

could have ever hoped for. and be in a strong and loyal friend it. madam chairwoman, delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. years!"] the first time i addressed this convention in 2004, i was a

younger man. a senate candidate from illinois who spoke about hope. not blind optimism, but hope in the face of difficulty. hope in the face of uncertainty. that faith in the future that pushed this nation forward even when the odds are great. even when the road is long eight years later, that hope has been tested. tested by the cost of war, one of the worst economic crises in history, and by political gridlock that left us wondering if it is possible to tackle the challenges of our time. i know campaigns can seem small and even silly at times. trivial things become big distractions. serious issues become sound bites. the truth gets buried under an

avalanche of money and advertising. if you are sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me, so am i.. when all is said and done, when you pick up the ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. over the next few years, the decisions will be made in washington on jobs, the economy, taxes and deficits. energy, education, war and peace. decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and on our children's lives for decades to come.

on every issue, the choice you face will not be between two candidates or parties. it will be a choice between two different paths for america. two fundamentally different visions for the future. ours is a fight to restore the values that built the largest middle-class and the strongest economy the world has ever known. the values my grandfather defended as a soldier. the values that grow my grandmother to work on a bomber assembly line while he was gone. they knew they were part of something larger. a nation that triumphed over fascism and a depression. a nation where the most innovative businesses turned out the world's best products. everybody shared in the pride and success. my grandparents were given the

chance to go to college by their own home, and fulfil the basic bargain at the american story. responsibility will be rewarded. everybody gets a fair shot. everybody plays by the same rules from main street to wall street to washington, d.c. i ran for president because i saw that basic bargain slipping away. i began my career helping people in the shadow of a shuttered steel mill at a time when too many good jobs began to move overseas. by 2008 we saw nearly a decade where families struggle by paychecks that did not rise with costs that kept rising. people racking up debt to pay the mortgage, tuition, gas in

the car, or food on the table. when the house of cards collapsed, millions of innocent americans lost their jobs, homes, life savings, a tragedy from which we are still fighting to recover. now, our friends down in tampa at the republican convention where more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with america. they did not have much to say about how they would make their right. they want your vote, but they do not want you to know their plans. that is because all they have to offer is the same prescriptions they have had for the last 30 years. have a surplus? try a tax cut. the deficit too high? try another. feel a cold coming on? take two tax cuts, rollbacks of regulations and call us in the morning.

now, i have cut taxes for those who need it. middle-class families, small businesses, but i do not believe another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to the shores or pay down deficits. i do not believe firing teachers or kicking students off of financial aid will help the economy. after all we have been through, i do not believe rolling back regulations on wall street will help the small business woman expand or the laid-off construction worker keep his home. we have been there. we have tried that. we are not going back. we are moving forward, in america.

i will not pretend the path i am offering is quick or easy. i never have. you did not elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear, you elected me to tell you the truth. the truth is it will take more than a few years to solve challenges that have built up over decades. it will require shared responsibility and the bold persistent experimentation that franklin roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one. those of us to carry on his party's legacy should remember not every problem can be remedied from another government program from washington. our problems can be solved.

our challenges can be met. the path reoffer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. i am asking you to choose that future. and goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit. real achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity and rebuild on a stronger foundation. that is what we can do a in the next four years and that is why i am running for a second term as president of the united states.

we can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer jobs. after a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed, we are getting back to basics and doing what america has always done best. we are making things again. i have met workers in detroit and toledo who feared they would never build a another a american car. today they can not rebuild them fast enough because we reinvented an auto industry that is back on top of the world. i have worked with business leaders who are bringing jobs back to a america not because our workers make less pay but because we make better products. we work harder and smarter than anybody else. i signed trade agreements helping companies sell more goods to millions of customers. goods stamped with three proud

words "made in america." after a decade of decline, this country created over half of a million of manufacturing jobs in the last two and a half years. now you have a choice. we can get more tax breaks to corporations to ship jobs overseas or reconsider rewarding companies that create new jobs and train new workers here in the united states of america. we can help small businesses, double their exports. if we choose this path we can create 1 million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years. you can choose that future.

you can choose the path where we can control more of our own energy. after 30 years of inaction, we raised fuel standards so by the middle of the next decade cars and trucks will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. we have doubled our use of renewable energy. thousands of americans have jobs building wind turbines and long-lasting batteries. we have cut will imports by 1 million barrels a day, more than any administration in recent history. today the united states of america is less dependent on the foreign oil than at any time during the past two decades. now, you have a choice between a strategy that reverses the process or one that builds on it.

we have to open millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration in the last three years and we will open more. i will not let oil companies right to this country's energy plan or in danger coastlines or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from tax payers. we are offering a better path. we are offering a better path where we -- a future where we invest in the wind, solar, clean coal, with farmers and scientists tarnishing -- harnessing biofuels. farms and factories that weighs less energy where we develop 100 years' supply of natural gas right beneath our feet. we can cut oil imports in half by 2020 and support more than

600,000 new jobs in natural gas alone. yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution heating our planet because climate change is not a hoax. more drought, floods, and wildfires are not a joke. they are a threat to our children's future, and in the selection you can do something about it. -- this election you can do something about it. you can choose a future where more americans have a chance to build the skills they need to compete. no matter how old they are or how much money they have. education was the gateway to opportunity for me. it was the gateway for michelle. it was the gateway for most of you.

more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life. for the first time in a generation nearly every state has answered the call to raise the standards in teaching and learning. some of the worst schools have made gains in math and reading. students are paying less for college today because we finally took on a system that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on the banks and lenders. now you have a choice. weekend that education, or we can decide in the united states of america no child should have dreams deferred because of a crowded classroom or a crumbling school. no family should set aside a college acceptance letter because they do not have the money. no company should look for workers overseas because they cannot find somebody with the right skills at home. that is not our future.

a government has a role in this. teachers must inspire. principles must lead. parents must instill a thirst for learning. students, you have to do the work. together i promise you we can out educate and out compete any nation on earth. help me recruit 100,000 a math and science teachers within 10 years and improve early childhood education. help give 2 million workers the chance to learn schools -- skills at their community college that will lead to a better job. help us work with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition costs over the next 10 years. we can meet that goal together. you can choose that future for america.

that is our future. in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. four years ago i promise to end the war in iaq. we did. we promised to refocus on the terrace to actually attack us on 911, and we have it. we have stopped the taliban's momentum, and in 2014 our longest war will be over. a new tower rises over the new york skyline. osama bin laden is dead.

tonight we pay tribute to the americans who still served and harm goes away. we are forever in debt to a generation that made this country safer. we will never forget you. so long as i am commander in chief. we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known. when you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you have served us because nobody who fights for the country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their head or the care that they need when they come home.

around the world we have strengthened old alliances and forge new coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. we reasserted our power across the pacific and stood up to china on behalf of our workers. we have advance the rights and dignity of all human beings, men and women, christians and muslims and jews. terrorist plots must be disrupted. you're opposed the crisis must be contained. our commitment to israel's security must not waver and neither must our pursuit of peace. the iranian government must face a world united against its nuclear ambitions. the historic change across the arab world must not be defined by the age of extremists but by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people reaching for the same rights we celebrate here

today. now, we have a choice. my opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy. from all that we have seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost america so dearly. you do not call russia our number one enemy unless you are still stuck in a cold war mindset. you might not be ready for diplomacy with beijing if you cannot visit the olympics without insulting our closest ally.

my opponent said it was tragic to end the war in iraq. he will not tell us how he will end the war in afghanistan. i have, and i will. while my opponent will spend more money on military hardware and that our joint chiefs do not even want, i will use the money we are no longer spending on were to pay down debt and put more people back to work, rebuilding roads, bridges, and schools. it is time to do some nation building right here at home. you can choose a future where we reduce our deficit, without

sticking it to the middle class. independent experts say my plan would cut the deficit by $4 trillion. last summer i worked with republicans in congress to cut $1 billion of in spending. those of us to believe government can be a force for good should work harder than anybody to reform it so it is leaner, more efficient, and more responsive to the american people. i want to reform the tax codes so it is simple, fair, and asks the wealthiest households to pay more at over $250,000. the same rate we had when bill clinton was president and our economy created millions of jobs, the biggest surplus in history, and a whole lot of millionaires to boot. i am still eager to reach an agreement based on the

principles of my bipartisan that commission. no party has a monopoly on wisdom. no democracy works without compromise. i want to get this done, and we can get it done. when gov. romney and his friends in congress tell us, we can lower the deficit by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy, well, what did bill clinton call it? you do the arithmetic. you do the math. i refuse to go along with that. as long as i am president, i never will. i refuse to ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire's tax cuts. i refuse to ask students to pay more for college or kick

children out of head start programs to eliminate health insurance for millions of americans who are poor and elderly or disabled, also those with the most can pay less. -- all so those with the most can pay less. i am not going along with that. i will never turn of medicare into a voucher. no american should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. they should retire with the care and dignity that they have earned it. we will reform and strengthen medicare for the long call, but we will do it by reducing the cost of health care, not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more. we will keep the promise of social security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen

it, not by turning it over to wall street. this is the choice we now face. this is what the election comes down to. over and over we have been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way. since government cannot do everything, it should do almost nothing. if you cannot afford health insurance, hope that you do not get sick. if a company reebok -- releases toxic pollution into the air your children burry, that is the cost of progress. if you cannot afford to start a business or go to college, take my opponent's advice and borrow money from your parents.

you know what? that is not who we are. that is not what this country is about. as americans we believe we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, rights that no man or government can take away. we insist on personal responsibility and we celebrate individual initiative. we are not entitled to success, we have to earn it. we honor the strivers, the risk takers, the of entrepreneurs who have been the driving force behind the free enterprise system. we also believe in something called citizenship. citizenship. a word at the very heart of our founding. a word at the essence of our democracy.

the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. we believe when a ceo pay is a bottom workers enough to buy the cars that they build, the whole company does matter. -- automobile workers enough to buy the cars they build, the whole company does matter. -- better. we believe the little girl offered any escape from poverty

pot we know that churches and charities can give more. we do not think government can solve all of our problems. we do not think that the government is the source of all of our problems any more than our welfare recipients or corporations or unions or immigrants or gays or any other group we are told to blame for our troubles. [cheers and applause] because america, we understand

this democracy is ours. we, the people, recognize that we have responsibilities. our destinies are bound together. a freedom that asks only what is in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others without love or charity or duty or patriotism is unworthy of our founding ideals and those who died in their defense. [cheers and applause] as citizens we understand that america is not about what can be done for us, it is a about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but necessary work

of self governance. that is what we believe it. so you see, the election four years ago was not about me. it was about you. my fellow citizens, you were the change. you are the reason there is a little girl with a heart disorder in phoenix that will get the help she needs because an insurance company will not limit her coverage. you did that. [applause] you are the reason a young man in colorado of who never thought he would be able to afford his dream of earning a medical degree is about to get that chance. you made that possible. [cheers and applause] you are the reason a young immigrant who went to school here and grew up here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer get deported from the only country she has ever

called home. our soldiers will not be kicked out of the military because of who they are or who they love, how thousands of families have been able to see if loved ones that served as, welcome home. you did that. you did that. you did that. if you turn a way now, if you turn away now and you buy into

fought for is impossible, well, change will not happen. if you give up on the idea of your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void that. lobbyists, special interests, people with $10 million checks trying to buy this election and make it harder for you to vote, washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry or control health care choices women should be making for themselves. [cheers and applause] only you can make sure that does not happen. only you have the power to move us forward. you know, i recognize that times have changed since i first spoke at this convention. times have changed, and so have i.. i am no longer just a candidate, i am the president. [cheers and applause] that means i know what it means to send young americans into

battle. i have held in my arms mothers and fathers of those who did not return. i have shared the pain of families who have lost their homes in the frustration of workers who have lost their jobs. if the critics are right that i made all my decisions based on polls, i must not be very good at reading. while i am very proud of what we have achieved together, i am far more mindful of my own

feelings, knowing exactly what lincoln meant when he said i have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that i have no place else to go. [applause] as i stand here tonight, i have never been more hopeful about america. not because i think i have all of the answers, not because i am not even about the magnitude of the challenges, i am hopeful because of you. the young woman i met at a science fair to one national recognition for her biology research while living with her family and a homeless shelter, she gives me hope. the auto worker who won the lottery after his plant almost closed but kept coming to work b every day toought flags for his whole town. one of the cars he built to surprise his wife. he gives me hope. the family business in the minnesota that did not lay off a single one of their 4000

employees when the recession hit, even when their competitors shut down dozens of plants. that did not lay off one of its employees when the recession hit, even when competitors shut down dozens of supplants, even when the owner gave up some perks, because they understood the biggest asset was the community and the workers who helped build-business. they gives me hope [applause] i think about the young sailor i met at walter reed hospital still recovering from a grenade attack that caused him to have his leg amputated above the knee. give we would watch him walk into a white house dinner honoring those who serve in iraq, a tall, 20 pounds heavier, dashing in his uniform with a big grin on his face, and i remember how i would watch

him on a bicycle, racing with his fellow wounded warriors on a sparkling spring day, inspiring other heroes who had just begun the hard path he had to travel. he gives me hope. [applause] he gives me hope. i do not know what party these men and women belong to. i do not know if they will vote for me, but i know their spirit of finds us. they remind me that ours is a future filled with hope, and if you share that stays with me, if you share that hope, -- that faith with me, if you share that hope, i asked you tonight for your vote.

[applause] that this nation's promise is reserved for the few. your voice must be heard in this election. if you reject the notion that our government is beholden to the highest bidder, you need to stand up in this election. if you believe is a new factories, new energy and power our future, new schools can provide ladders of opportunity to this nation of dreamers, if you believe in a country where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone plays by the same rules, i need you to vote this november. [applause] america, i never said this journey would be easy, and i will not promise that now. yes, archive is harder, but it

leads to a better place -- our path is harder, but it leads to a better place. we do not turn back to oregon we leave no one behind. we draw strength from our victory, and we learn from our mistakes, and we keep our eyes focused on a distant horizon, knowing that we are blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth you're a good -- on earth. god bless. [applause] ♪

[applause] [applause] >> ♪ we take care of our own ♪ wherever this flag is flown ♪ we take care of our own ♪ we take care of our own

♪ wherever this flag is flown, we take care of our own ♪ [applause] ♪ we take care of our own, wherever the slide is flown -- this flag is flown ♪ [applause] ♪ [applause] >> ♪ the sun is coming up over new york city ♪ ♪

♪ the sun coming up over new york city ♪ ♪ school bus driver in a traffic jam ♪ ♪ staring in her rearview mirror, looking have the promise of the promised land ♪ ♪ the world dreams of fame and fortune ♪ ♪ one could end up going to prison ♪ ♪

[applause] ♪ only in america ♪ streaming in red white and blue ♪ ♪ we all get a chance, everyone gets sudans, only in america -- guess t -- gets to dance, only

in america ♪ ♪ she came out to be here -- she came out to be an actress ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ we all get a chance, everyone gets to dance ♪ [applause]

[applause] [applause] >> we will bring you the president and vice-president th. then republican mitt romney's because of a rally in iowa. did you can watch our coverage of both events on c-span and on our web site at c-span.org. of next, the in see appearances from gabrielle giffords, jim rogers, tommy baldwin, and eva longoria. >> these were not things printed in votes. they were not necessarily images that appeared in weeklies.

they were images people purchased to hang on their walls, to decorate their homes, to relate rise to the levels of our religious icons of old. they had honored places in family parlors. >> the civil war images of grand and leave. live next sunday, the 150th anniversary of the battle of antietam. american history tv on c-span 3. >> i watch c-span, c-span 2, because i feel it is important to be knowledgeable of what is going on in the world, and i think c-span gives the most if information, whereas a lot of

television does not do that. >> sees them, brought to you as a public service by your cable provider. >> and former congresswoman gabrielle giffords lead the pledge of allegiance. [applause]

[applause] >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice or of. -- for all. [applause]

>> gabby, gabby, gabby! [applause] >> no more speeches from thursday night because convention. we will hear from tammy baldwin,

but first do rogers. hopper -- duke rogers. he served as chairman of the host committee. >> let me start by welcoming new to charlotte and to north carolina. i hope you are having a great time at this convention. i hope you got a good sense of southern hospitality. it has been my honor to serve with mayor anthony fox as co-

chair of the charlotte host committee. i want to thank all the people and the local businesses to have worked tirelessly to make this a wonderful convention so far, and we have not even gotten to the main event. i am not here tonight as a democrat or a republican, or as ceo. i am here as a grandfather. i have eight grandkids, and my oldest son is here and now today. many of you have children and grandchildren, and we want to do all we can. we want to pass what i call the

grandchildren's test. that is when our grandchildren look back, decisions we made as the children come -- as the country, will they think we did the wrong thing? we want the answer to be yes. one way we can make this world a better place for our grand kids is to lay the groundwork for a cleaner, more sustainable future. among other things, that means taking a long-term approach to energy policy, whereas these decisions should not be made in four-year a election cycles. that is why it and all of the above energy strategy is a good

place to start, but we must be more innovative. we need to work harder to earn a future of affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy. that means we need to invest heavily in 0 e. mission power sources like nuclear, -- in zero emission power sources like nuclear as well as solar technologies, and we cannot lose sight of energy efficiency, but the cleanest common most efficient plan is the one we never have to build. here in charlotte we are committed to energy efficiency and a more sustainable future. one of our first steps is to

reduce our energy by 20% in the central business district, and we are also increasing water conservation, reducing waste, and improving our air. this is part of a model that can be reproduced in cities across the country and around the world, because energy is more than a partisan issue. it is an american issue and a global issue. i know we the american people have the ability to meet energy challenges, to cross the bridge to a more secure world and to leave our grandchildren with a place where they can thrive. thank you all very much. thank you for coming to charlotte.

[applause] >> on behalf of the great state of wisconsin and our proud, progressive tradition, thank you. i know you have heard a lot about wisconsin lately. you have heard about paul ryan, who wants to end medicare as we know it. you have heard about scott walker, who took basic rights away from teachers, nurses, and public employees. maybe you had even heard about tommy thompson, our former governor who went to washington, cash in on his special interest connections, and never really

came back -- cashed in on his special interest connections. i am here to tell you that they do not speak for all of wisconsin, and i want you to hear about the wisconsin that i know -- the place where my grandparents raised me, the place where generations of families have worked hard to get ahead, the place where our state motto might sound familiar to you. it is just one word -- forward. we believe that to prosper, everyone has to have a fair shot and everyone has to do their fair share. that is why i'm proud to lead the charge against the buffet rule, which makes sure that millionaire and billionaires still get to pay a lower tax rate than hard working american families, and president obama stands with me. the wisconsin i know knows that

their plan will only bust our budget, not boost our economy. we believe in a level playing field. more than a decade ago, the big wall street banks came to congress and asked us to repeal an important law called glass- steagall, allowing them to gamble like hedge funds. too many in washington said yes. russ feingold and i said no. i fought to make wall street play by the same rules as main street. president obama fought for that reform. mitt romney wants to repeal it. but the wisconsin i know knows that having two sets of rules makes no kind of sense. in wisconsin, we believe in hard work. for decades, we have worked to make things -- paper, engines, tools, ships, and, yes, cheese,

brats, and beer. give our workers a fair shot, and we will compete against anyone. that is why i am taking on china's cheating and betting on wisconsin workers. president obama believes in our manufacturers. that is why he is standing with me to support companies creating jobs here and not shipping them overseas. mitt romney wants to give up on our manufacturing sector, but the wisconsin and i know knows that an economy built to last says "made in america" on the label. [applause] and we believe that american history moves in one direction -- forward. our president has made historic progress towards equality. he repealed don't ask, don't tell, so that no american ever

again have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country we love. republicans want to write discrimination into our constitution, but the wisconsin i know believes that with each passing year and each generation, our country must become more equal, not less. [applause] mitt romney, paul ryan, scott walker, tommy thompson -- they think they are the only ones who speaks for wisconsin, but come november, the wisconsin i know, the america i love will speak out loud and clear and keep us moving forward, forward with a strong middle-class, forward on a path to prosperity, and forward with president obama. [applause]

>> please welcome actress eva longoria. ♪ [applause] >> hello, charlotte. i have to say hello to taxes. i have been in a lot of stages of my life but none as important as this one. i am honored to be here as the co-chair of president obama's reelection campaign. i am fortunate to stand on this stage tonight, and i never could have imagined it growing up. i was born in corpus christi,

texas. i am the youngest of four girls, including my older sister lisa who have special needs. my mother was a special education teacher, and my father worked on the army base. we were not wealthy, but we were determined to succeed because in my family there was one priority, education. for me college was not an option. it was mandatory. i signed up for anything i could, and just like our president and first lady, i took out loans to go to school i worked in a mechanic's shop. i worked at a wendy's to pay those loans back, and i did whatever it took, and four years later, i got my degree.

[applause] more importantly, i got the key to american opportunity, because that is what we are, a nation that rewards ambition with opportunity, where hard work can lead to success no matter where you start. as i travel the country i see americans from every background fighting to succeed. they are optimistic, ambitious, hard-working, but they also want to know the hard work will pay off, and we are lucky our president understands the value of american opportunity because he has lived it. he is fighting to help others achieve it. he is fighting to make college more affordable. he has cut taxes for every working american. he has cut taxes 18 times.

18 times, and that is important because small businesses create too out of every three new jobs in america. it is a guillotine and nurse whose locks need a health clinic -- a latina nurse who is blocked needs a health clinic. they are the ones driving the .conomy mitt romney would raise taxes on middle-class families to cut his own and mine, and eva longoria then worked at wendy's looking burgers needed a tax break, but the eva longoria who

works on movies does not. president obama, he is fighting for changes through the -- that grow the economy from the middle out and help all americans succeed, jobs, education, the dream act, equal pay for women. president obama is moving as a head for prosperity tomorrow. mitt romney wants to take us .ack to yesterday' america is filled by optimists. my friend wanted the website. seamount the owner and asked if she could buy it. the owner wrote back. she is a 13-year-old girl who shares the name, and she politely explain she forgot she owned the website, because the

younger amanda and plans to be president of the united states one day, and she is going to need the website for her campaign, so here is a little girl 13 years old who believes she can build her american dream, and here is a president who is building an america where that dream is possible, so let's fight for the american dream. yours, mine, all of ours, and we know how to do that.

let's reelect president messagee

most important issue the president can consider for a chance to win a grand prize of $5,000. it is open for grace 6 through 12. for complete details, go online to studentcam.org. >> charlie crist was elected as a republican in 2006. he since became an independent and this year has endorsed president obama. he talked about his conversion at the convention. >> what an incredible night.

optimism is in the air, and what an honor to be with you to stand for president barack obama. i did not leave the republican party. if left me. [applause] then again, reagan himself would have been too moderate, to .easonable for today's gop we face serious challenges in our country. we must face -- create good middle-class jobs so we can have any economy to last. we must improve our schools, and particularly important to me as

the challenge of saving medicare and social security so we can keep our promise to our seniors. there are common sense solutions within our reach if we only have leaders willing to find common ground. no political party has a monopoly on that kind of leadership, but it pains me to tell you today's republicans and their standard errors just are not up to the task. they are be holden to the my way or the highway belize, indebted ,o millionairess who bankrolle and immune to compromise. barack obama does not stand for

that. you and i will not stand for that. i will be honest with you. i do not agree with president obama about everything, but i have gotten to know him, and i have worked with him, and the choice is crystal clear. when he took office, the economic crisis already put my state of florida on the edge of disaster. the tourists we depend on could not visit, and our construction industry had come to a standstill. president obama saw a catastrophe in the making, and he took action. one of his first trypsin office brought him to fort myers, fla., where i was proud to embrace him and his plan to keep our teachers, police, and firefighters on the job.

that caused me more grief from my party then you can ever imagine, but even as the republican party fought to stop him, this president showed his courage, invested in america, and saved our florida. two years later, florida and the gulf coast face the worst environmental disaster in our nation's history. this time when a ruptured wells build nearly 5 billion barrels of oil into the gulf of mexico, president obama came to our rescue again, leading a massive cleanup effort and demanding accountability for those responsible. my friends, he did not see a red stain. he did not see a blue state. he saw americans who needed

help, and once again, i saw the leader our country needs. [applause] i used to play quarterback just down the road from here in wake forest university. my dad always told me, charlie, it takes a cool head to win on hot game. my friends, our country is in the middle of of hot game, and we face challenges at home and abroad. meantime, never has it been harder for a president to keep a cool head, and never has it been more important. i looked around florida. i see as day bursting with opportunity. well i look at the republican ticket, i seized two candidates who would break the promise of

social security and cut investments in our middle class that there's so important to our recovery, and then i looked at barack obama. i see a leader with a cool head, an open mind, a president who has demonstrated he is uniquely qualified to heal our divisions, rebuild our nation, and lead us to a brighter future. that is the leader florida needs. that is the leader america needs. that is the reason i am here tonight, not as a republican. not as a democrat, simply adds man american who understands we must come together and lead america forward. good in these challenging times, my president, your president, barack obama. god bless you, and god bless america. thank you so much.

♪ csi >> ladies and gentlemen, please -- >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome senator john kerry of massachusetts. [applause] >> thank you, thank you. in this campaign, we have a fundamental choice. will we protect our country and our allies, advance our interests in our deals, to battle where we must and make peace where we can, or will we entrust our place in the world

to someone who has not learned the lessons of the last decade? we have learned mitt romney who does not know much about foreign policy, but he has these neocon advisers who know all the wrong things about foreign policy. he will rely on them. after all, he is a great outsource sir. i say to you, this is not the time to outsource the job of commander in chief. our opponents like to talk about american exception alyssum, but all we do is talk. -- exceptional was some -- exceptionalism, but all we do is talk. we do exceptional things. win wars, fighting aids, the sense freedom, go to the moon,

and produce people who give their lives for civil rights and human rights. despite what you heard in tampa, an exceptional countries do care about the rise of the oceans and the future of the planet. that is a responsibility from the scriptures, and that is the responsibility of the leader of the free world. the only thing exceptional about today's republicans is almost without exception they oppose everything that has made america exceptional in the first place. an exceptional nation demands exceptional leadership. it demands the leadership of an exceptional president, and that

president is barack obama. just measure the disaster and disarray he inherited. a war of choice in iraq can become a war without end, and a war in afghanistan can become a war of neglect. america was isolated in the world. our military was stretched to the breaking point, iran marching toward a nuclear weapon, unchecked, and osama bin laden was still plodding. it took president obama to make america a lead like america again. it took president obama to restore our moral authority. if the president obama to van torture. the president understands that our values do not limit our power.

they magnify it. he showed that global leadership is a strategic imperative for america, not a favor we do to other countries, and president obama kept his promises. he promised to end the war in iraq, and he has, and our heroes have gone home. he promised to end the war in afghanistan responsibly, and he is, and our heroes are coming home. he promised to focus like a laser on now kited, and he has, and our forces have eliminated -- on al qaeda, and he has, and our forces have eliminated more than in years before. after 10 years without justice for thousands of americans murdered on 9-11, after mitt

romney said it would be naive to go into pakistan to pursue terrorists, it took president obama, against the advice of any, to give that order and finally rid this earth of osama bin laden. [applause] ask osama bin laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago. [applause] barack obama promised to stand with israel, to tighten sanctions on iran, and take nothing off the table. again and again, the other side has lied about where this president stands and what this

president has done, but prime minister netanyahu set the record straight. he said our countries have exactly the same policy, when our security cooperation is unprecedented, and when it comes to israel, i will take the word of israel's prime minister over mitt romney any day. president obama promise to work with russia to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons, a historic treaty that does just that. he promised to lock down nuclear materials around the world, and he has done that. he refused to except a false choice between force without diplomacy and diplomacy without force. when a brutal dictator, to hunt down and kill his own people like rabbits, president obama and listed are our lives, shared

the burden, sir today without a single american casualties, muammar gaddafi is gone and the people of libya are free, so on one side of this campaign, we have a president who has made american lead like america again, and what is there on the other side? an extreme and expedient candidate who lacks the judgment and vision so vital for the oval office, the most inexperienced foreign policy to run for president and vice president now for decades. it is not fair to say mitt romney does not have a position on afghanistan. he has every position. he was against setting a date

for withdrawal. then he said it was right. then he left the impression maybe it was wrong to leave this soon. he said it was tragic to leave iraq. then he said it was fine. he said we should intervene sooner, and then he ran down on hallway to run from reporters asking questions. then he said intervention was too aggressive. then he said the world was a better place because the intervention succeeded. talk about being for it before you were against it. [applause] mr. romney, here is a little advice. before you debates are rocco, -- debate obama on foreign policy, you had better finish the debate with yourselves.

[applause] main --t mitterrand's president mitt romney, three very hypothetical words that mystified and alienated our allies this summer. for mitt romney and overseas trip is what you call it when you trip all over yourself overseas. it was not a goodwill mission. it was a blooper reel, but a romney-ryan foreign policy would be anything but funny. every president for 60 years has worked for nuclear arms control but not made romney. republican secretaries of state , 71 united states senators also

supported president obama's new treaty, but not mitt romney. he has even flirted of the preposterous notion russia is our number one and geopolitical foe. sarah palin said she could see russia from alaska. and mitt romney talks like he can only see russia from watching rocky iv. [applause] so here is the choice in 2012. mitt romney, out of touch at home, out of his depth of broad, and out of the mainstream camorra or barack obama, -- out of the mainstream, or barack obama, a commander in chief who gives our troops the tools they

need now at war, the honor they have earned at home, a man who will never ask other men and women to fight a war without a plan to win the peace, and let me say something else. let me say something else. no nominee for president should ever fail in the midst of a war to pay tribute to our troops overseas in his except in speech. mitt romney was talking about america. they are on the front lines every day defending america, and they deserve our thanks. [applause] >> usa, usa, usa!

[applause] >> some of us from a prior war remember coming home was not always easy. president obama has made it his mission that we welcome our troops home with care and concern and the respect they deserve. that is town on -- that is how the mix of salacious shows thank you -- that is how an exceptional leader says thank you. we have already an exceptional american as president, and we believe in barack obama. thank you, and god bless america. [applause]

♪ >> i've got a feeling that tonight is going to be a good night ♪ by fellow, what a night, what a crowd. -- hello, what a night, what a crowd. thank you, nc. i am so proud of how far you have to come. i am so proud to stand before you tonight not only as the wife of our vice president, but as a full-time teacher and a military

om.lma i am here for our son and all of our troops, veterans, and military families. four years ago, bo stood on this stage to introduce his father, and he deployed now to iraq for a year with the delaware national guard.

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crowd: usa! usa! when mitt romney said that led to detroit to go bankrupt, who took the wheel? barack obama. when america was losing 750,000 jobs a month, who gave us a lift? barack obama. when american markets broke down, who jump started the engine?

barack obama. when a american needed it the most, who had as rolling on the road to recovery? a america, we need to rev up our engines in your car and on your ballot. the "d" is for drive forward, the "r" is for reverse. in this election we are driving forward, not to back as we elect the next president barack obama. >> you can watch videos from the republican and democratic convention. and you can find out what viewers are saying about the presidential race on social media sites like facebook, twitter. here are a few videos by dnc convention goers. >> my name is injun that and i

am from michigan. i support barack -- jeanette. i support barack obama. minuses -- my message to america is we are at a critical junction. if we do not elect this man, we will not recognize america when we are done. vote barack obama. >> my experience has been very powerful. >> my name is al, i am a delegate from maryland. my experience has been great. i have enjoyed every minute of it. i am looking forward to obama's speech this evening. >> conspicuously locking in this convention is talking about the environment and how important that is too many americans.

let's talk about it. >> the un is us, your government and mine. it can be as powerful as these governments want it to be. sometimes we talk about the distancing ourselves. we are giving the governments responsible for an action in some of these situations an alibi and blaming others. one of my predecessors used to say we often rigid it stands as a scapegoat. >> scapegoat and chief. >> there is a scape goat function of the member states and media have to be careful not

to useful as an alibi. >> more with kofi annan on book tv. >> i want c-span, c-span 2 nd the book portion of c-span because i feel it is important to know what is going on in the world. c-span is the most information where a lot of television does not do that. >> hillary pate watches c-span. brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> charlie crist was elected as

the governor of florida as a republican in 2006. he has left to become an independent and supports barack obama. he talks about his conversion -- conversion at the convention. >> optimism is in the air. what an honor to be here with you to stand with president barack obama. [applause] half of a century ago, ronald reagan, the man whose optimism was inspiring to me to enter politics, he said he did not leave the democratic party, but the party left him. i can relate. i did not leave the republican party, it left me. [applause] then again, my friend jeb bush

recently noted that ronald reagan would have been too moderate and to reasonable for today's gop. we face serious challenges in our country. we must create middle class jobs so we can have an economy built to last. we must rebuild roads and bridges and improve public schools. particularly important to me and florida is the challenge of saving medicare and social security so we can keep our promise to our seniors. [applause] there are common-sense solutions within our reach. if we only have leaders willing and enthusiastic to find common ground. no political party has a monopoly on that kind of leadership. as a former a lifelong republican it pains me to tell you today's republicans and

their standard beers just are not up to the task. -- standard mirrors are not up to the task. they are beholden to the my way or the highway belize, bankrolls -- and a bankroll their ads and allergic to the idea of compromise. ronald reagan would not have stood for that. barack obama does not stand for that. you and i will not stand for that. [applause] i will be honest with you. i do not agree with president obama about everything. i have gotten to know him. i have worked with him. the choice is crystal clear. when he took office the economic crisis had already put my state of florida on the edge of disaster. the foreclosure crisis was consuming homeowners, our vital construction industry had come

to a standstill. president obama saw what i saw. a catastrophe in the making. he took action. [applause] one of his first trip sen office brought him to fort myers, florida where i was proud to embrace them to keep our police, teachers, and firefighters on the job. that caused me more grief from my party that you can ever imagine. even as the republican party fought to stop him, this president showed his courage invested in america and saved our florida. [applause] two years later, florida and the gulf coast faced the worst environmental disaster in our

nation's history. this time when a well as build 5 million barrels of oil into the gulf of mexico. president obama came to the rescue again leading a massive cleanup effort and demanding accountability from those responsible. he did not see a red state. he did not see a blue state. he simply saw americans that needed help. once again, i saw the leader our country needs. i used to play quarterback just down the road from here at wake forest university. my dad always told me, he said, charlie, it takes a cool head to win a hockey game. our country is in the middle of a hot game.

we face challenges at home and abroad. never has it been harder for a president to keep a cool head and never has it been more important. i look around florida and see a state bursting with opportunity, a state that looks like america oppose the future. i see two candidates who would break the fundamental promise of medicare and social security and cut investments to the middle class so important to the recovery. and i look at barack obama. i see a leader with a cool head and an open mind. a president who -- who has demonstrated he is uniquely qualified to heal our divisions, rebuild the nation and lead us to a brighter future. that is the leader florida needs. that is the reason i am here tonight.

not as a republican, not as a democrat, simply as an american who understands we must come together behind one man who can lead the way forward in these challenging times. my president, your president, barack obama? . -- barack obama. thank you. and god bless you. [applause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome john kerry of massachusetts. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you. in this campaign, we have a fundamental choice. will we protect our country and our allies, advance our interests and deals, the battle where we must, and make peace where we can. will we entrust our place in the world to somebody that just has not learned the lessons of the last decade? we have all learned mitt romney does not know much about foreign policy. but he has all of these neocon advisers to know all the wrong things about foreign policy. he would rely on them. after all, he is the great out sorcerer. i say to you. this is not the time to outsource the job of commander

in chief. -- he is the great outsourcer. our opponents like to talk about american exceptional as some. they forget we are exceptional not because we say we are, but because we do exceptional things. we break out of the great depression, when two world wars, save lives fighting aids, defend freedom, go to the moon, and it produced exceptional people who give their lives in four civil rights and human rights despi. and exceptional country does care about the rise of the oceans and the future of the planet. that is a responsibility from the scriptures.

that, too, is the responsibility of the leader of the free world. the only thing exceptional about today's's republicans is almost without exception they oppose everything that has made america exceptional in the first place. unexceptional nation demands exceptional leadership. -- exceptional nation's demand exceptional leadership. that man is barack obama. [applause] just measure the disaster and disarray he inherited. a war in iraq have become a war of unend. a war in afghanistan had become aware of neglect. america was isolated in the world. our military was stretched to the breaking point.

iran marching toward a nuclear weapon unchecked and osama bin laden was still plodding. it took president obama to make america a leader like america again. it took president obama to restore our moral authority. it took president obama to ban torture. the president understands our values do not limit our power, they magnify it. he showed low will leadership is a strategic imperative for america, not a favor that we do to other countries. president obama kept his promises. he promised to end the war in rock, and the heroes have come home. he promised to end the war in afghanistan commack and he is.

our heroes are coming home. he promised to focus like a laser on al qaeda, and he has. our forces have eliminated more of its leadership in the last three years than all the eight years that came before. after more than 10 years without justice for thousands of americans murdered on 911, after mitt romney said it would be nice to go into pakistan to pursue the terrorists, it took president obama against the advice of many to give that order and finally rid this earth of osama bin laden. [applause] asko some of the late and if he is better off now -- -- ask

osama bin laden if he is better off now than he was 4 years ago. [cheers and applause] barack obama promised always to stand with israel, to tighten sanctions on iran banned, and take nothing off the table. -- iran and take nothing off the table. the other side has lied about what this president has done, but the prime minister set the record straight. he said howard two countries have exactly the same policy. our security cooperation is unprecedented. when it comes to israel, i will take the word of israel's prime minister over mitt romney any day. [applause] president obama promised to work with russia to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons and signed a

historic treaty that does just that. he promised to lockdown nuclear materials around the world, and he has done just that. he refused to accept the false choice between force without diplomacy and diplomacy without force. when a brutal dictator promised to hunt down and killed his own people like rats, president obama and listed our allies, built a coalition, shared the burden so that today without a single american casualty, kathy is gone and the people of libya are free. -- gadhafi is gone and the people of libya are free. on one side of this campaign we have a president who has made america lead like america again. what is there on the other side? an extreme and expedient

candidate who lacks the judgment and a vision vital for the oval office. the most inexperienced foreign- policy twosome to run for president and vice president in decades. it is not fair to say that mitt romney does not have a position on afghanistan. he has every position. he was against setting a date for withdrawal. then he said it was right. then he left the impression that maybe it was wrong to leave so soon. he said it was tragic to leave iraq. then he said it was fine. he said we should have intervened and libya sooner. then he ran down a hallway to run away from reporters asking questions. then he said the intervention was too aggressive. then he said the world was a better place because the intervention succeeded.

talk about being for a big -- for it before you were against it. mr. romney, here is a little advice. before you debate barack obama on foreign policy, you better finish the debate with yourself. [cheers and applause] now, president mitt romney, three very hypothetical words at alienated our allies this summer. for mitt romney and overseas trip as what you call when you trip all over yourself overseas. it was not a goodwill mission,

it was a blooper reel. but a romney/ryan foreign policy would be anything but funny. every president of both parties has worked for nuclear arms control, but not mitt romney. republican secretaries of state from kissinger to rice, president bush, 71 senators all supported president obama's new treaty, but not mitt romney. he has even flirted out the preposterous notion that russia is our number one geopolitical foe. sarah palin said she could see russia from alaska. mitt romney talks like he has only seen a russia by watching rocky iv. [cheers and applause]

here is the choice in 2012. mitt romney, out of touch at home, out of death abroad, and out of the mainstream. barack obama -- a president giving new life and truth to america's indispensable role in the world. a commander in chief that gives our troops the training they need at work, and the help they have earned when they came home. a man -- a man who will never ask other men and women to fight a war without a plan to win the peace. let me say something else. it let me say something else. no nominee for president should ever fail in the midst of a war

to pay tribute to the troops over seas and his acceptance speech. mitt romney was talking about america. they are on the front lines every day defending america, and they deserve our thanks. [cheers and applause] some of us from a prior war remember coming home was not always easy. president obama has made it his mission that we welcome our troops home with care and concern and the respect they deserve. that is how an exceptional nation says thank you to its most exceptional men and women.

mitt romney says he deserves -- mitt romney says he believes that america and he will restore american exceptional as some. i have news for him. we already have an exceptional american as president as we believe and barack obama. thank you, and god bless america. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> hello! what a night, what a crowd. thank you, angie. i am so proud how far you have come.

i am proud to stand before you tonight, not only has the wife of the vice-president, but as a full-time teacher and a military mom. i am here for our son and for all of our troops. he stood on the stage to introduce his father and soon after, he deployed to iraq for a year with the delaware army national guard. tonight, thanks to the leadership of president obama and my husband, the war in iraq is over.

i am also here tonight for my students. students like her that worked so hard to create a better life for themselves and their families. i have been a teacher for more than 30 years. into this day, i continue to teach full-time at a community college in northern virginia. not long after he was elected vice president, people started questioning whether i could keep teaching. but not joe. he was there, standing by my side saying, of course you should. it is to you are. for me, being a teacher isn't just what i'd do. it is too i am. -- who i am.

these issues are personal to me, and for the 37 years i have known joe. i have seen first hand is personal to him, too. people say that i did not agree to marry him until the fifth time he asked me. the truth is, i loved him from the start and i saw in him, the same character that i see in him today. i have seen his character in his optimism. for families that have lost a loved one, kids struggling to find their way, workers out of a job. he always worked to give people a sense of hope.

i have also seen his character in his determination. two decades ago when he started working on the violence against women act, domestic violence was often treated her as a private family matter rather than the crime is. but joe knew that he had to bring this issue out into the open. in the years since that bill has passed, i have had women tell me that their sisters or their friends would not be alive today if it weren't for him. finally, i have seen his character in his heart. when i first met him, he had already seen a just how fragile life could be when he was 29 years old. he lost his first wife and baby

daughter in a tragic car accident when they were out getting their christmas tree. the boys were critically injured. his life was shattered. but through his strong catholic faith and his fierce love for our boys, he found the strength to get back up. that is joe. that optimism, that determination, that big, strong heart that drives him for work every day. it is what he learned as a young boy growing up with hard- working parents in scranton, pennsylvania. it is what makes him such a loving and supportive father of our three children. and it is what drives him today

as he and president obama fight to strengthen the middle class that they grew up then. for as long as i have known him, he has never given up, never failed to see the possibilities, and never had any doubt about who he is fighting for. as long as he has the privilege of serving this nation, i know from the bottom of my heart that he will continue to fight for you every day. thank you. god bless our troops and our military family. [cheers and applause] >> republican pollster kellyanne

conway talks about the messages they try to convey at the convention. marilyn geewax on the jobs report. paul taylor on the state of the middle class. >> these images are not what i call promiscuous illustrations. they were not things printed in books. they were not necessarily a images that appeared in they victorio weeklies. there are images people purchased to hang on their walls to decorate their homes and to really serve plant or rise to the level of religious icons of old. they were --

>> live next sunday, the 150th anniversary of the battle of antietam. american history tv on c-span>> i like best about this 3. -- next is vice president by then and president obama. >> and a short video, students will answer the question "what is the most important issue the president should continue -- in 2013. c-span student camera video competition is open for students' grades 6-12. for complete details and rules go online to studentcam.org.

>> i watch c-span, c-span 2, sand the book portion because i feel it is important to be knowledgeable about what is going on in the world. c-span is the most information about what is going on with specific subjects where a lot of television does not do that. >> c-span, created by american table -- cable television companies. offered as a public service. >> at the end of a democratic national convention last night, president obama gave his nomination acceptance speech. he promised our problems can be solved if he is given a second term. but first, we will hear last night's speech by the joe biden who spoke for about 40 minutes.

>> hello my fellow democrats. and my fellow democrat. jill, i want you to know we are so incredibly proud of you.

we admire the way every young person walks into your classroom, you not only teach them, you give them confidence. you give me confidence. the passion she brings to try to ease the burden on the families of our warriors. they know you understand them. that makes a gigantic difference. i will tell you what. it was worth the trip to hear my wife say what i have never heard her say before. she has always loved me. five times.

i don't know what i would have done if you had said no the fifth time. i love you. your the love of my life and the life of my love. we have three incredible kids. my son, i want to thank you for putting my name in nomination to be vice president of the united states by accept. states. i accept. with great honor and pleasure, i accept. thank you. thank you, my fellow democrats. i say to my fellow americans, my fellow americans, four years ago, a battered nation turned

away from the failed policies and turns to a leader that they would know what lift our nation out of the crisis. a journey we haven't finished yet. and we know we still have more to do. but today, i say to my fellow citizens, in the face of the deepest economic crisis in our lifetime, this generation of americans has proven itself as worthy as any generation before us. we present that same breath and determination. that same courage that has always defined what it means to be an american, has always defined all of you. together, we are on a mission to move this nation forward.

from doubt and downturn to thomas and prosperity. a mission i guarantee you will complete. a mission we will complete. folks, but tonight, what i really want to do is tell you about my friend barack obama. no one could tell it as well or as eloquently as michele. as you did a monday night. but i know him. tuesday obvious, i know him from a different perspective. -- to state the obvious, i know him from a different perspective.

i want to show you the character of leader that had what it cut when the american people who literally still had on the brink of a new depression. a leader that had what it takes to lead us over the next four years to a future as great as our people. i want to take you inside the white house to see the president as i see him every day. because i don't see him in sound bites. i walk 30 paces down the hall into the oval office and i see him and watch him in action. four years ago, the middle class was already losing ground. and then, the bottom fell out. the financial crisis hit like a sledgehammer. all the people i grew up with. you remember the headlines. you saw some of them in the previews.

highest job losses in 60 years. the economy on the brink. markets, it worldwide. from the very moment president obama sat behind the desk, resolute in the oval office, he knew he had not only to restore the confidence of a nation, but he had to restore the confidence of the whole world. and he also knew, he also knew that one false move could bring a run on the banks or credit collapse. it would put another several million people out of work. the world needed a strong president with a steady hand, with the judgment and vision to see us through. day after day, night after night, i sat beside him as he

made one gutsy decision after the other. to stop the slide and reverse. i watched him stand up to intense pressure and stared down have enormous challenges. the consequences of which were awesome. but most of all, i got to see firsthand what drove this man. his profound concern for the average american. he knew that no matter how tough this decision, and he knew that families all over america sitting at their kitchen tables were literally making decisions for their family that were equally as consequential. we have been through a lot together these four years. and we learned about one another. a lot about one another.

one of the things i learned is the enormity of his heart and i think he learned about me, the death of my loyalty to him. another thing that bound us together the past four years, we had a pretty good idea of where all those families and americans in trouble were going through. in part because the families have gone through similar struggles. as a young man, they had to sit at the end of his mother's hospital bed. had watched her fight for the

insurance company and i said i would have to leave for a while. in a little while i will be able to send for you and mom and jimmy. and everything is going to be fine. for the rest of our lives, my sister and my brothers, my dad never failed to remind us that a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. it is about your dignity. it is about respect. it is about your place in the community. it is about being able to look your child in the eye and say, a honey, it is going to be ok.

and mean it and know it is true. barack and i were growing up, there was an implicit understanding in america. that if he took responsibility, you would get a fair shot at a better life. and the values behind the bar again, the values that shaped both of us and many of you, today. those same values are the guiding star. i have watched him. he has never wavered, he never backs down. he always steps of and he always asks in every one of those critical meetings the same, fundamental question.

how is it going to affect the average american? how will this affect people's lives? that is what is inside this man. that is what makes him tick. that is who he is. and folks, and because of the decisions he has made. america has turned a corner. it has created 4.5 million private-sector jobs in the last 29 months. they're both loving husbands and devoted fathers.

there is a vastly different vision and a vastly different values set for the job. i want to talk about two things from a slightly different perspective. from my perspective. i want to focus on to crises and show you the character of leadership that each man that brings to this job. i have had a ringside seat. a lot has been talked about and got love jennifer branham. wasn't she great? i love jennifer. but the first story i want to talk to you about is the rescue

of the automobile industry. and let me tell you, from this man's ringside seat, let me tell you about how barack obama saved more than 1 million american jobs. in the first holidays that we took office, general motors and chrysler were literally on the verge of liquidation. if the president didn't act immediately, there wouldn't be any industry left to save. so we sat hour after hour in the oval office. we sat, hour after hour. listen to senators, congressmen, outside advisers, and we listen to some of the following things. which shouldn't step up. the risks were too high. the outcome was uncertain. and the president patiently sat

there and he listened. but he didn't see it the way they did. he understood something they did not get and one of the reasons i love him. he understood that this wasn't just about cars, it was about the people that built and made those cars. and about the america that those people bill. in those meetings, i often thought about my dad. he was an automobile man. he would have been one of those guys all the way down the line, not on the factory floor, but one of those guys selling american cars to american people. i thought about what this crisis with of meant for the mechanics and the secretaries and the salespeople my dad managed for over 35 years.

i know for certain that my dad, were he here today, he would be fighting for the president because the president fought to save the jobs of those people my dad cared so much about. ladies and gentlemen, my dad respected barack obama, would have respected barack obama had he been around. for having had the guts to stand up for the automobile industry when so many others were prepared to walk away. when i look back now, on the president's decision, i think of another son of an automobile man. governor romney. he grew up in detroit.

my data managers and his dad ran the entire automobile company. american motors. what i don't understand, in spite of that, he was willing to lead detroit go bankrupt. i don't think he is a bad guy. no, i don't think he is a bad guy. i am sure he grew up loving cars as much as i did. " what i don't understand and i don't think he understood that saving the automobile worker, saving the industry, what it meant all of america. not just autoworkers. i think he sought it in terms of balance sheets and write offs. folks, the bain way they bring the firm the highest profits but it is not the way to lead

our country from the highest office. when things hung in the balance, literally hung in the balance, the president understood that this was about a lot more hope than the automobile industry. this is about restoring america's pride. he understood why it would mean to leave 1 million people without hope or work if he did not act. yet he also knew and understood the message that was sent around the world. the united states gave up on an industry that helped put america on the map and the first place.

conviction, resolved. the barack obama. that is what saves the automobile industry. conviction, resolved. barack obama. -- look. this president has shown the same result, the same steady hand in his role as commander in chief. that brings me to the next illustration. the next crisis he had to face. in 2008, before he was president. barack obama made a promise to the american people. he said, if i have bin laden in our sights, we will take him out.

he went on to say that it has to be our biggest national security priority. barack understood that the search for him was about a lot more than taking a monstrous man off the battlefield. it was about more than that. it was about correcting an unspeakable wrong. literally, it was about healing unbearable wounds, a nearly unbearable wound in america's heart. and he also knew the message we had to send around the world. if you attack innocent americans, we will follow you to the end of the earth.

most of all, president obama has an unyielding faith in that capacity and the capability of our special forces. literally, the finest warriors in the history of the world. the finest warriors in the history of the world. we said a originally, only five of us. we sat in the situation room and the year before, how we listen, talked, we heard, and he listened to the risks and reservations about the raid.

he asked the tough questions and listen to the doubts that were expressed. the admiral looked him in the eye and said, sir, we can get this job done. i sat next to him and i looked your husband. i knew, at that moment, he had made his decision. and his response was decisive. he said, do it, and justice was done. governor romney did not see things that way. when he was asked about it in 2007, he said it is not worth

moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just to catch one person. but he was wrong. he was wrong. if you understood that america's heart had to be healed, you would have done exactly what the president dead and you would move heaven and earth to hunt him down and to bring him to justice. four years ago, the only thing missing at this convention is my mom. she was still with us, sitting in the stadium in denver. i quoted one of her favorite expressions.

she said, joey, bravery reside in every heart and the time will come when it must be summoned. ladies and gentlemen, i am here to tell you what i think you already know. i watched it up close. and bravery reside in the heart of barack obama. i witnessed him some and its. this man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart, and they spite of steel. but because of all the actions they tuck, because of the determination of american workers and the unparalleled bravery of special forces, we can proudly say what you have heard me say the last six months. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive.

that's right. one man. we know we have more work to do. we know we are not there yet. but not a day has gone by in the last four years when i haven't been grateful, as an american, the barack obama is our president because he has the courage to make the tough decisions. speaking of tough decisions, last week, we heard at the republican convention, we heard the opponent pledge that they, too, had the courage to make the tough calls. that is what they said.

but folks, in case you didn't notice, i say to my fellow americans, they didn't have the courage to tell you what calls they would make. they never mentioned any of that. mrs. robinson, you watched from home, i guess. you heard them talk about how they cared so much about medicare. how much they wanted to preserve its. that is what they told you. let's look at what they didn't tell you. what they didn't tell you is that the plan to have already put down on paper would immediately cut benefits of for more than 30 million seniors already on medicare. already on medicare.